Sunday, 21 December 2014

Oh yes, I feel like I'm running at the moment! Trying to enjoy Christmassey (is that a word?) things but still rushing a bit too much trying to finish things.

As a result, I'd forgotten I was out Friday night and was very busy yesterday and didn't have time/forgot to do the draw!!

There were 50 comments in all but two were replies and Fox didn't want to be entered so that made 47 to draw from. Here is the result, drawn with the "True Random Generator":

And number 16 is…. Michelle! Who's "messed Italy" comment made me laugh (thank you auto-correct). The Santa shuttle will be on its way to you in Monday's post. Congratulations!

This will be my last post of 2014 I think. Thank you to everyone for all your comments throughout the year and for sharing the joy of tatting, and creativity in general with me.

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas: joy, peace, happiness, and love with all your friends and families.

I managed to finish the mini polar bear… but not his coat yet so he had to borrow's his friend's. I shall have to knit the red coat during the holiday. I'm getting better at making the face and this one is much better than the first I think. And I found the gorgeous sparkly snowflake brooch in a local shop yesterday and just had to treat myself - I love snowflakes! So today I'm wearing my tatted snowflake earrings and my snowflake brooch.

Wednesday, 17 December 2014

be wearing snowflake earrings! I just had to take a short moment to make myself a pair. This is Elizabeth Zipay's pattern and they are very quick to make.

I have now stiffened them and added a few sparkles too… and they look really nice on… really "snowflakey! :-)

If anyone knows of a product that would make fabric (or thread) completely hard, I'd love to hear about it. I used PVA glue but that still leaves them bendable. Is there anything that goes really hard?

Monday, 15 December 2014

Sorry guys, I wanted to provide you with a new snowflake pattern for this Christmas and I just ran out of time! I was full of good intentions but just had too many things on my "to-do" list. Including many handmade presents that are taking up my time… very enjoyably I might add but then there are only so many hours in a day… aren't there? I'm sure I'm not the only one wishing there were more than 24 hours in each day!

I got close with my remake of Minuet but I've still not properly written the update. So, it is with sadness that I abandon the idea and will hopefully publish the pattern in the new year instead.

I will make a few of Minuet 2014 for my family but I also decided to tat my Criss-Cross Snowflake which I had not tatted since I wrote the pattern in 2011.

I'm not overly keen on the bead arrangement on this one

so will have to tat another and show the criss-cross effect instead…

though I do like a few sparkly beads on snowflakes.

AND…

Here is my Christmas gift to you: I'm having a draw for one of my Christmas shuttles. It's Santa climbing chimneys to make his deliveries while his reindeer wait for him on the snowy rooftops.

Notice I didn't put it in the title of this blogpost that I'm having a draw so that my faithful visitors will get more of a chance of winning because not everybody will know that this blogpost contains a draw! Sneaky, eh? But it is open to everyone! Anyone can win and I will ship to wherever the winner is from.

Please leave a comment to be included and I will make the draw on Friday which does mean that you probably won't receive your gift in time for Christmas but as with many other things at this time of year… I'm just running behind!!

Wednesday, 10 December 2014

I first saw Duncan at our local wool shop… he immediately appealed to me and I kept thinking I wanted to make him. A Christmas present for my niece was the perfect opportunity.

Duncan is only 4½" tall.

He wears a lovely hooded jacket.

His arm and legs are articulated...

So he can wave hello!

And he can stand up or sit down.

He's not perfect as I couldn't completely figure out parts of the pattern and the tiny pieces are quite fiddly to sew up and I've not done that perfectly. I also need more practice on making his nose and mouth. Anyway, room for improvement as always but I LIKE HIM!

So then I decided to also make his friend, Jamie. Jamie doesn't have a coat but wears a scarf wrapped around his neck. He is even smaller than Duncan and stands at only 3½" tall. My daughters really like him and I think I'll have to make these tiny bears again to go in their stockings…

I bought some cream wool and am making a polar bear version next. I think that one will wear a red coat.

Hope your Christmas preparations are going well. I still have many handmade gifts on my list left to complete.

Wednesday, 3 December 2014

for my mother-in-law. I have made her a few of these crochet bags over the years (always slightly different) and her last one was starting to look a bit shabby. So I thought I'd make her a new one for Christmas. I found this interesting square-bottomed bag pattern and as I put it down, I thought how neat it looked, flower-like even…

I hope it ends up looking more like a bag by the time I'm finished though! I'm waiting for more cotton to arrive.

Of course, I'll end up rushing because I won't have time to finish all the things I have to do before Christmas!

Monday, 1 December 2014

Oh my, time is flying by! Already the 1st of December, can you believe it?

Here a bit more on Minet (2014 version). I tried it without beads. I kept the same length of picots where the three beads were and in this version I have pinned them so they have a sharper angle but you could leave them soft and rounded too. I also just made a picot on the inner round instead of the JKs. Here it is in pale blue and ivory.

And here's a "Candy Cane" version.

This time I added a bead where the JKs were on the first round.

These are silver lined beads and I like the sparkle

they add to the snowflake.

Looks pretty glinting on the tree…

You can't see the sparkle on the scan

but it does look pretty IRL.

And now I'm not sure which I like best anymore! Funnily enough, I look back at the first, gold version and I like it too!

How are you getting on with your Christmas tatting? I need to get me skates on now if I want to tat a few of these to put in my Christmas cards!

I played my first Christmas carols on the piano this morning. For me it's always the 1st of December when I truly start thinking of Christmas and getting into the spirit and I love getting the books out and playing the very first carol on the 1st day of December.